I had no expectations for these cinnamon rolls. I’m still in disbelief in fact about how incredibly delicious they tasted. I mean, I knew the brown sugar and butter and pecans slathered in the pan and rolled into the dough would create a cinnamon roll affect, but I didn’t expect the dough itself — just a standard bread dough (water, flour, yeast, salt) — to have that enriched brioche-like flavor. How could a no-butter, no-sugar, no-egg, no-milk dough yield a nearly perfect if not perfect cinnamon roll? That’s a question perhaps better answered by all of you experienced bakers out there. I’m stumped. Replete, content and stumped. I made this recipe on a whim. I had already baked off 3 smallish loaves of bread from my batch of Artisan Bread in Five dough — the master recipe yields 4 loaves — and I wanted to try something new. In the preface to the book’s Sticky Pecan Caramel Roll recipe, the authors note that the recipe works — and works well — with their standard boule dough, and so I went for it. And I’m so glad I did. Oh man were these good. I don’t know how an enriched-dough could improve the flavor, but I’m curious. As soon as I recover from my sticky bun binge, which might take a few more weeks, I’m going to give the ABin5 brioche dough a go. I’m already looking forward to that happy morning. If you like this recipe, check out the ABin5 blog. Oh my, this monkey bread looks fabulous. And here are some other ABin5 loaves I have tried: Traditional Boule Cinnamon Swirl Bread — an absolute favorite Partially Whole Wheat Boule Broa — Portuguese Corn Bread – not sweet corn bread but bread with cornmeal
No reviews If you want to make standard boules, continue with step 5 here. No reviews The Caramel Topping
6 T. unsalted butter, softened 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 cup brown sugar 30 pecan halves (I crushed up my pecan halves, but feel free to leave them whole if you wish)
The Filling
4 T. salted butter, softened (I used unsoftened) 1/4 cup sugar 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg (I did not use) 1/2 cup chopped and toasted pecans (I did not toast) Pinch of ground black pepper (I did not use.)
